ORIGIN

Budget 1928 Ford Banger Hot Rod Roadster

This 1928 Ford is said to have a genuine roadster body and a ’31 frame and to be a good runner. This one is about as cheap as we have seen for real Henry steel, and this one has more brakes than engine instead of the usual other way around. Find it here on The H.A.M.B. in Azusa, California for $13k obo.

If you go by talk in rodding circles, bangers are hot right now. I guess because v8 flatheads are hard to find and expensive. So this seems well priced.

rat rods..are like porn…you know them when you see em.. I was on the edges of that scene in the early 90s in California. Good intentions as an antidote to the repop billet crowd. But got coopted fast and became a buzzword. Like “barn find.”

Agree Clonedspork. This is a faithful build that is cohesive and really typical of hot rodding in the immediate pre and postwar periods.

Juice brake conversion is popular but many “A” owners who do the conversion find little actual difference in stopping ability. Keeping the mechanicals in adjustment and adding reinforcing bands to the thin, stamped brake drums on an “A” will do wonders. I would opt to change to a later tranny before converting brakes – you really cannot downshift the non syncro A gearbox. Believe me, I know…

Patrick1, thanks for reiterating that this is not a rat rod. Especially on the HAMB, you might get hit in the teeth for suggesting that one of their cars is a rat rod. They generally despise the term and the cars that engendered the term. Most of the cars from members on that site are well done with lots of thought to style and what feels right as a traditional vehicle. Simply because it is in primer or not quite finished (whose ever is?) does not make it a rat rod.

Looks like a fun car, and the simplicity of these things is astonishing. Wish I was closer and had the money.

Not sure I understand the comment concerning more brakes than engine – ad does not refer to common conversion to later Ford juice brakes, and it looks like mechanical brake rods are in place. Having owned an “A” before a cardinal rule “Plan your stops!!!” – that said, properly adjusted the brakes are generally fine for the speeds these cars do in stock form, and even any added performance from any mods to the 40 hp 4 banger may be countered by less weight to bring to a stop in these already light vehicles when you have a fenderless roadster.

This is a neat car, and probably one of the very few hot rods on my wish list. Price seems ok, not a screaming deal as unlike restorations you could conceivably build one of these with a running chassis and repro or good orignal body for around the same money or a touch less. There are some very cool speed parts available for the Model A 4 cylinder – and the highboy stance is almost as clean as a ’32.